Falling Star
by Galahan
Summary: Song fic. Snape reflects at Dumbledore's funeral. Read and Review.


Disclaimer: Lyrics in italics, surprise, surprise, don't belong to me. As for the characters, I think you can figure that out on your own.  
  
A/N: This wrote itself. Don't flame just because you don't like. Constructive criticism is a whole lot more useful. And //words// is italics  
  
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Falling Star  
  
//"..............was....."//  
  
No one really understood the first line of the song. Perhaps they were too busy mourning their fallen hero. But soon, the noise died down. One of the greatest Griffindors was dead and the world was here to mourn him. So, they processed down the cobblestone street in the drizzle and fog, following the casket, keeping step with the song barely begun.  
  
//Of him the harpers sadly sing://  
  
And they were, weren't they? For the song itself was sad and mournful. A perfect choice, as the public buried its leader, its hero, its hope. A new era of darkness was coming. And they all knew it, deep down.  
  
//The last whose realm was fair and free//  
  
He was a rare leader. Even I, the icy Potions Master, must admit that. He lit up Hogwarts and kept it safe. It was a haven for all, even one Slytherin youth who'd gone the wrong way so many years ago. And now, well, no one could run that school as well as he. The Minister of Magic could not make a decision without him, or so it had seemed from the daily owls he received from him. The Wizarding world was in panic, soon to fall. Indeed, the last whose realm was fair and free. There is no place like Hogwarts was left.  
  
//Between the Mountains and the Sea.//  
  
The mournful tune continued on. It fit the occasion perfectly. If I did not know that the melody was an ancient one, I would think it was written specifically for this occasion. For the briefest of moments, I wonder who it was written for, all those many years ago. But then my ears strain to catch the next lines, for the singers have turned a corner.  
  
//His sword was long, his lance was keen.//  
  
Now I have never, in all the long years I have know Albus Dumbledore, seen him heft a sword or raise a lance. But he held them both, and wielded them well in his blue eyes. When calm, those eyes twinkled mysteriously, but when he was angry, his gaze was as sharp as steel. He could slice open your soul with a mere glance. His sight was long, his gaze was keen.  
  
//His shining helm afar was seen;//  
  
Well, yes, one could see Albus from a mile away. His robes were not subtle in the least. And yet, no one looked more dignified, more refined, more completely in control than Albus in purple robes with gold stars chasing themselves around. Discreet, never. Easily found in a crowd, definitely.  
  
//The countless stars of heaven's field//  
  
Now perhaps, the lyrics are becoming a bit too poetic for me. Though my tolerance for the romantic and poetic is nonexistent, I had almost gotten accepting of those traits in him. If nothing else, Albus was one of the people who believed that good would win in the end, that people were inherently good, and that true love existed. I'd find that very foolish in anyone else, but I'd learned that Albus is never foolish. Rather, those who accused him of foolishness turned out to be the fools.  
  
//Were mirrored in his silver shield//.  
  
He did try to shield his students. Every one of them. But too many came already corrupted by the darkness. Too many already knew what reality was like. Too many found out within Hogwarts' walls. He was always willing to protect his children. But too many had already come face to face with Darkness and realized that there is no protection.  
  
//But long ago he rode away,//  
  
It seems like so long ago that he died in the attack on Hogwarts during the Griffindor/Slytherin Quidditch match. Our world has fallen apart. Hogwarts is not as safe as it once was. Nowhere is. There is talk of closing it. Parents are bringing their children home. But some teachers will still be there. And as long as some students still come, they will be taught. A few short hours so many years, yet only days, ago will not bring down a school that has stood for a thousand years. Darkness may roar outside its walls, but it will not come through them.  
  
//And where he dwelleth none can say.//  
  
A brisk wind is rising, and the Church bells ring a few blocks away. We are almost there. In a few moments, we say goodbye forever. If there is a heaven, I do not doubt that he is there, entertaining angels with his bad jokes.  
  
//For into darkness fell his star.//  
  
Darkness swallowed him up. It is rising. It is raging all about us. Soon, very soon, it the storm will become an unstoppable hurricane, flooding us all with blood and destruction and death. And all our hopes rest upon a young Griffindor who has just lost the last protective bulwark he has to hide behind. I wonder who I should fear for: the Boy-Who-Lived, or the thing that killed the Man-Who-Did-Not. Darkness is rising; our tale will come to its ending soon, for good or for ill.  
  
//...where the shadows are.//  
  
The first few words of the last line are inaudible over the raucous yet melancholy church bells. The wind has parted some of the clouds, and the drizzle has stopped. A few sunbeams pierce the clouds and the procession into it. I am reminded that without sunshine, there can be no shadows and without night, no stars. Darkness, indeed. The sun rises, Darkness.  
  
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A/N: You took the time to read it, so how hard is it to take a little more and review? The first person to identify where the lyrics in italics are from wins... something. Probably a song fic of some sort. If you know, email me at galahanz@yahoo.com or leave it in a review and we'll figure things out. 


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